Brian's Story
by betterthings89
Summary: I figured since so far the show is very light on stories about the Kmetko's past, especially Emily's brother Brian, I would tell the story the way I imagine it. I hope you enjoy reading it. If so please don't hesitate to write reviews.
1. Things Past and Present

***Reviews are very much appreciated.**

**-Brian's Story-**

Chapter 1

-_16 Years Ago (1994 ) Fresno, California_-

"Hey look what I can do!"

"That's nice Emily." Simon Tortelli groaned.

"Your daughter's very talented for a two year old." A nurse complemented Simon. They were at Fresno General Hospital; Simon's third wife was getting ready to give birth. He didn't feel it necessary to pay witness to the event. He had never desired a child of his own, let alone a stepchild he inherited by marrying Chloe when she already had a daughter.

"Yeah, you don't know what it's like having to put up with dis suff all day long. An' she ain't mine. She's my wife's first kid." Simon slurred his words, even though for the first time in months he was almost completely sober. This was almost torture to him, but his wife had insisted he be upright for their child's birth.

"Listen, nurse…whatever…can you hang onto her for a while?…she's really messin' with this buzz I got goin' on." Simon said, his arm around the back of the shapely nurse, letting it glide down towards her rear end, just as he often did.

"Sir…uhh…"

"No need to call me 'sir', I ain't no gentleman."

"Sir, don't you think you should be with your daughter when her little sister or brother is born?"

"I told you she ain't mine, good Lord, how many times I gotta say it?" Simon snapped at the nurse, yanking his arm off of her.

"But still don't you think you should be…"

"Come on hon, I ain't askin' much…ya gotta do this…she's been drivin' me up the walls all day… I mean all year."

"Fine, I'll see what I can do…Hey sweetie sit with me for a little while." The nurse told Emily, taking a hold of her wrist. They sat on a bench in the hallway. Emily looked at her with a sad yet wondering expression.

"You'll see your mommy real soon sweetheart."

Ten minutes later several orderlies came around the corner pushing Chloe Kmetko on a gurney, she was holding a baby bundled in a blanket, a smile on her face as she looked down at the child. The orderlies moved her into the room nearest to where Emily and the nurse where sitting. The nurse could do nothing to stop Emily from toddling into the room. She had seemed to "dismount" the bench with perfect ease. The only reason the term was fresh in the nurse's mind is because it reminded her of the Olympics that had been held two years ago in Barcelona.

"Mommy!" Emily exclaimed. An orderly lifted her onto the bed.

"Hey there baby." Chloe said wrapping her free arm around her daughter.

"Where's Simon…my husband?" Chloe asked one of the orderlies.

"I'll go get him." The man said. Minutes later Simon strutted in, he didn't even look at Chloe or the baby.

"Simon it's a boy, he's your son." Chloe said, getting his attention. This got Emily's attention.

"That's right; you got a baby brother Emmie." Chloe intoned in a mock baby voice.

"Don't you wanna hold your son Simon?" Chloe asked innocently.

"No, you're doin' fine Chlo'" Simon mumbled.

"Well anyway, what're we gonna call him… I know: Dylan…no Ryan…I got it Brian! Brian Kmetko." Chloe decided.

"Why not Brian Tortelli?" Simon griped

"You know perfectly well why not. 'Cause we got married in one of those 'drive-thru' wedding chapels in Vegas. It wasn't exactly legal and what not." Chloe scolded him.

Two weeks later Brian was crying more than ever. For the millionth time Chloe got out of bed in the middle of the night to settle him down.

"Chlo' shut that kid up…come on I got work in the morning!" Simon shouted angrily.

"I'm doin' my best…but it's part of havin' a baby."

"I told you I didn't want no kids!" Simon hollered. He pulled on a pair of pants and made his way to the front of the apartment.

"Where you goin'? Simon, where are you goin'?" Chloe demanded.

"Out!"

"Out where?"

"Goin' to get some smokes! I'll be back later."

The morning came, but Simon didn't come back. Weeks went by, which then turned into months but there was no sign of Simon. Chloe finally accepted that Simon was never coming back.

_-1 Year Later (1995)-_

"Look mommy Brian's walking!" A three year old Emily exclaimed.

"That's great honey…I gotta get to work. Go take your brother over to Mrs. Palmers." Chloe instructed her. Mrs. Palmer was their retired neighbor with whom Emily and Brian spent their days while Chloe was at work.

"Don't you wanna see?" Emily begged, not knowing her mother's troubles.

"I can't right now…I'll see it when I get home tonight." Chloe said, leading them over to the next door apartment. "Don't give Sherry any trouble today, no more somersaults in her living room Emily."

_-6 Months Later-_

"Okay you two it's Saturday. You know what that means? We're going to the park! Yay!" Chloe exclaimed happily.

"Yay!" Emily and Brian shouted in unison. When they got to the park it was warm and sunny, a perfect day. Emily immediately began to try to go back and forth on the monkey bars. She was determined to make it all the way across but she still wasn't quite strong enough to make it. Meanwhile Brian was running across the flat bridge, he didn't like the one that shook. All of a sudden Brian seemed to trip and fall. He cried because his arm hurt where he landed on it. But no sooner did he fall than Emily came and helped him back up. This happened several more times but Emily though nothing of it. Brian continuously tumbled like a sack of potatoes.

"Mommy, he keeps tripping, should I just let him get up on his own?" Emily asked innocently.

"No baby, you're being a good big sister. Keep it up!" Chloe shouted back from the park bench. From where she was sitting it was clear to Chloe that Brian was not simply tripping. Whenever he was about to fall again his legs looked sluggish and begin to drag under him until he could no longer stand.

The same thing continued to happen over the next few weeks until it got so bad that Brian was barley walking at all. Sometimes he would drag one foot or the other behind him. Other times he would revert to crawling. That's when Chloe decided it was time to go see a doctor. She walked into a free clinic, she had no health insurance, so this was the best they could do. The doctor in the clinic was good enough to get the Kmetko's in to see a doctor that did free work for people who couldn't afford it otherwise.

"You were right to see me Ms. Kmetko. Tests seem to show Brian has a deformity in his spine. As he's been growing over the last year and a half it's become worse." The doctor told her.

"So what's that all mean?"

"It means pretty soon Brian won't be able to walk at all."

"For how long?" Chloe asked desperately.

"I'm afraid it's quite permanent. The condition is inoperable. Brian will never walk again. I'm so sorry."

Chloe carried Brian out to the car where she sat and sobbed into the smock she wore to the diner she worked at. People all around could hear Chloe's hysterical weeping.

_-11 Years Ago (1999)-_

It was Saturday morning; Chloe Kmetko had just finished pulling a double shift at the diner the night before. But she didn't have time to be tired. She had two kids that needed her attention. So she shook off the urge to roll back over and sleep in another two hours. She knew she couldn't afford to do that anyway. Emily was most certainly already awake and rearing to go. And Brian needed her as well; he couldn't even get out of bed without her. Although he had tried several times, this accounted for the bruises and bandages that lined his arms.

A very short while later Chloe was ready. She walked into the other room in the apartment which was shared by Emily and Brian. Brian was patiently waiting there on his bed for her to help him up. He hadn't always been this patient. The first couple of months he cried when he was ready to get up. But now that Brian was five he simply sat in silence waiting because he knew his mother would always come for him. Today was no different. Chloe lifted Brian from his bed and helped him get dressed. Brian was very mature for a five year old, but then he had to be. His life was complicated with the combination of an overworked mother and the inability to stand on his own two feet. Chloe brought him out to the rather cramped kitchen where Emily was waiting, a look of horror covering her face and tears streaming down her blood red cheeks.

"I'm sorry mommy, I didn't mean to…I couldn't reach it…I'm sorry!" Emily whaled; a carton of milk spilled all over the kitchen floor was directly in front of her. Chloe placed Brian in a chair at the kitchen table and rushed over to her seemingly traumatized daughter. She scooped Emily up into a hug and rubbed her dark black hair.

"It's okay sweetheart, you didn't mean to. It's okay, I'm not mad." Chloe said, soothing Emily who seemed to be calming down. Chloe then grabbed a handful of paper towels she had swiped from the ladies room in the diner and dried up the floor. "See it's all better…plus I think it was past the expiration date…eww." She said eyeing a chunk in the midst of the milk, quickly tossing it into the trashcan.

"But now what do we do? We don't have any milk for breakfast." Emily said, still a little shaken.

"It's okay baby, we'll have toast. Oh, and here we go…Sunny Delight for my two sunny delights!" Chloe said in her most cheery voice. Brian grinned back at her and Emily began to perk up as well.

"I've got big plans for today! Wanna know what they are?" Chloe asked, trying to illicit as much enthusiasm as possible. And she succeeded.

"I do, I do!" Brian hooted happily. Emily gave a look of consensus.

"Alright, today we're gonna go see a movie, then we're gonna get ice cream and go to the park so Emily can practice some more of her tricks, then we'll see from there! Sound like fun?" Chloe said mustering even more joy in her voice. Emily and Brian were so excited it couldn't have made Chloe happier.

When they got to the theater Chloe stepped up to the window and intoned "Three tickets for Toy Story 2."

The girl behind the window said "Sorry lady we sold out ten minutes ago, you should called ahead for your tickets."

"Look my super cut off my phone service last week, can't exactly call ahead." Chloe shot back, rather annoyed.

"You coulda used your mobile phone lady, geez!" The girl said without even looking up, lifting up a large piece of black plastic with a flap, a small clear screen, and a long chunky antenna that pulled out.

"Look little miss trust fund, does it look like I could fit a big sucker like that anywhere on this?" Chloe demanded, referring to her skin tight outfit which was made of fake leopard skin print.

"Look lady, ya wanna see another movie or what?" The girl pouted, ignoring what Chloe had said. Chloe looked at the big display board next to the girl that said when all the movies where playing and found one.

"Fine, lemme have three for the next showing of _October Sky_." Chloe said, she waited patiently as the register printed three tickets and the girl handed them to her and took her money. Then Chloe turned and took the kids into the building.

"Sorry we can't see Toy Story 2, but I think you guys might like this one anyway." Chloe said as they approached the doors to the theater playing _October Sky._ Emily and Brian seemed slightly discontented but they didn't put up a fuss. As they entered the theater Chloe spotted the sole handicapped seat in the front row of the theater and began pushing Brian towards it. But unfortunately a morbidly obese woman had also spotted the seat and wanted it for herself. Strangely enough Chloe reached the seat at the same time as the large woman did. The woman gave her a look of extreme indignation.

"You mind, I'm sittin' here!" The woman bellowed, her cheeks wobbling as she spoke.

"Yes I mind, my son has to sit here!" Chloe fired back.

"Yo' son can sit in any of them other seats. They made 'em big enough for a little bitty kid that don't get no food like him." The woman answered thickly.

"Look my son's in a wheelchair, can you see that? Or is your shadow making it so you can't?" Chloe said building up aggravation.

"You look here hussy! I can't make it up them steps neither. They don't make 'em big enough for healthy sized people." The woman slurred, starting to sweat.

"You stopped being healthy in nineteen seventy three, you walking Twinkie." Chloe spat back. Just then a pimpled theater employee stepped up.

"Is there a problem?" He sputtered through a set of braces.

"This hoochie mamma wants me to give up my seat to her cripple son!" The woman said in an extra husky voice her had planted on what was presumably her hip.

"Hey you watch it jumbo-tron! Last time I checked being a giant sack of grease wasn't a disability." Chloe lit into the woman.

"Sorry ma'am she's right. You're gonna hafta leave." The boy said. The large women hobbled out of the theater.

"I'm complainin' to management about this. Of all the…" The woman mumbled as she slammed her body through the closed theater door.

"Sorry about that ma'am." The theater employee said.

"It's alright, we're used to it." Chloe answered him. She then lifted Brian into the handicapped chair, and sat next to him with Emily on the other side of him. They sat there for the next hour and forty minutes until the movie ended trying to forget the whole ugly scene that had just transpired.

"Wow that was a great movie, right guys?" Chloe asked eagerly.

"Yeah! That was fun! It's my favorite!" Brian said with a lot of feeling.

"Alright well let's go get some ice cream! Yay!" Chloe said happily.

"Yay!" Emily and Brian said in unison.

When they were done at the nearby ice cream stand Chloe drove the both to the park. They watched as Emily showed off some new tricks she had taught herself outside their apartment.

_Present Day (October 2010)—Bolder, Colorado_

"Mom, I'm gonna be late for practice at the Rock if I don't find my leo now!" Emily shouted from the bathroom. Lately Emily had been practicing seven days a week with the other elites. The extra practice time would culminate in a month long training competition with the national team in Los Angeles.

"Where's Brian? I haven't seen him in three days." Emily called out from the bathroom.

"He's staying at a friend's house." Chloe yelled back. Emily was more than a little suspicious. Brian had been mysteriously in and out of the house for days at a time without any explanation over the last year. She didn't know what was going on. All she knew was that every time she asked her mother what was happening, she gave some recycled excuse, like he was at a friend's or she just missed him and he was at school, or she was too busy to notice him. She was too wrapped up in preparing for the competition to put up much of a fight. But she was getting frustrated that her mother and her brother were not being straight with her about something.

"I found it…my leo."

"That's great honey. We better get you over there, okay."

"Okay, but I will find out what it is you two are keeping from me!" Emily informed her mother sternly.

"I'm sure you will. You know Brian's tutoring Becca Keeler again today; they'll be here when you get home. You can ask him then."

"Fine he'll give me answers. I know his weakness." Emily said deviously.

"Really? What is it?"

"Like I'd tell you." Emily grinned. They jumped into the car and headed for "The Rock". When they got there Lauren Tanner was outside causing chaos as usual.

"You know Lauren you're such a b-!" Kaylie Cruz began to yell when she was cut off by her father.

"What is it this time?" Emily asked.

"She and Lauren are fighting over Carter for the millionth time. I swear, they could not be less focused for elites of their status." Payson Keeler told her quietly.

"You know what? I'm outta here!" Carter shouted at the two girls.

"If you miss training today, you're not going to LA!" Sasha Belov yelled to him from the gym door.

"That's fine coach! I can't handle these two anyhow!" Carter shouted back, he jumped into his car and sped off.

Half an hour later when they had all warmed up they began practice. This being the week leading up to the competition, only the male and female national team members were allowed to train at "The Rock". The rest of the Rock team was instructed to take the week off.

Emily began to practice her routine on the uneven bars. She was trying to put as much focus and intensity into her moves as possible, but she couldn't get the mystery of Brian's erratic absences out of her mind. When she landed her dismounts her feet were continuously slipping several feet which made for a sloppy looking dismount and points lost in an actual competition. Sasha began to take notice.

"Emily what is going on! I haven't seen something like that from you since I came here. Other than the dismount, your routine is flawless. But you need to clear your head. Go again." Sasha scolded her.

"More like she needs to clear her plans for the future and star practicing saying 'would you like fries with that?'" Lauren said under her breath, the usual snobby expression on her face.

"Why don't you mind you own business Lauren? You _are_ behind her in the standings. Or did daddy fix that for you?" Kaylie retorted sarcastically. Lauren said nothing; she simply shot Kaylie an ugly look.

Hours later Emily made her way home. She came in the apartment through the sliding glass door in the back. Her mom stopped her.

"Shh, Brian and Becca are still studying their Geometry." Chloe whispered.

"I won't bother them. I just wanna get something out of the fridge. But I will get Brian to tell me where he's been…eventually." Emily said confidently.

"Sure, sure." Chloe said quietly smiling. She walked back into the bedroom while Emily made her way out to the kitchen. But as Emily caught sight of the scene in the front of the apartment, she froze without a sound on the spot, shock filling her veins instantly, for she was most definitely not expecting to see what she was now witnessing. There were geometry books lying open on the table, two half empty cups of juice next to the books. Pencils and papers were strewn all over the table. Brian's wheelchair was sitting, unoccupied, off to the side of the couch. Emily continued to stare at them; Brian and Becca were sitting next to each other on the couch. Their eyes were closed and their lips locked in a kiss that seemed much longer to Emily due to her astonishment at stumbling upon something this totally unexpected. She had never seen her brother as the kind of person that kissed girls. She knew he liked them. But deep down she always thought the only girls that would ever be in his life would be her and her mother.

"If only your sister knew?" Becca giggled as they broke apart, both of them smiling at each other, their faces still only inches apart.

"I don't know if she'd be able to handle it yet." Brian responded matter-of-factly as they began to sit up straight.

Emily was sensing the need to make a discreet exit. She slowly backed her way out of the room, but as she made her way out she bumped into a basket of laundry in the hallway. Brian and Becca looked around but Emily was just fast enough to duck into the bedroom in which her mother was currently in, making her bed.

"Mom, do you know what I just saw those two doing?" Emily asked in a stunned tone of voice.

"Math problems? Call the cops!" Chloe joked. Emily rolled her eyes and began to leave the room.

"If they weren't doing math, then what?" Chloe asked.

"Nope." Emily responded plainly.

"What do you mean 'nope'?"

"You won't tell me where Brian's been going; I won't tell you what I saw."

"Why are you so worried about Brian all of a sudden?"

"I'm always looking out for him. But for the last year he's been in and out of the house and I have no idea why that is."

"He's fine, trust me, there's nothing to worry about."

"I keep having all these thoughts racing through my head. What if he's sick? What if he's got cancer and has six months to live? Or something like that. You know what I mean? It's really hard to focus when my brother is on the verge of death!" Emily ranted, making little to no sense whatsoever.

"He is not on the verge of death, good Lord Emily. I always knew you were a worrier, but I had no idea…"

"Well if it's not any of those things then what is it? Why is my little brother always out of the house when he never used to be?" Emily demanded. She had decided to keep the whole kissing scene she had just witnessed to herself. Besides she didn't know what she would say if she did bring it up.

"It's nothing, he's is perfectly fine. It has to do with school, he's in the junior national honors society, did I tell you that? They think next year when he's in eleventh grade he'll be able to get into the actual National Honor society." Chloe rattled off very quickly.

"That's great, okay. But I'm asking him when he and Becca are done."

"Whatever floats your boat honey." Chloe said lightly as she glided onto the bed.

A little over fifteen minutes later they heard the door open. Emily made her way to the front of the house to see Becca standing in the doorway, there was a car out at the street waiting for her.

"See you tomorrow Brian." Becca said, only partially able to hide a grin.

"See ya!" Brian said, with a little more emotion, giving her a wave 'goodbye' from his wheelchair. She turned and closed the door. Brian wheeled himself around to face the kitchen and the passage to the back of the apartment. He began to wheel his way towards the back of the apartment when Emily moved in front of him, barring his path.

"Hey 'Em, how'd it go at 'The Rock' today?" He asked politely and innocently unaware that Emily had seen what he and Becca had been doing.

"Great, Brian. It would have gone better if I hadn't been distracted by you!" Emily stated sternly, placing her hands on the fronts of the armrests on Brian's wheelchair, getting closer to him.

"What're you talking about? I wasn't even there. How could I distract you?" Brian asked, bewildered, scrunching his eyes and forehead in and expression of utter befuddlement.

"I wanna know what you've been up to lately."

"I'm not sure I know what you mean. Can you be a little more specific?"

"I think you know."

"Emily, you're scaring me a little. Come on, what's up?"

"That's what I want to know. Why have you been so scarce this _whole_ year?"

"Umm Emily…I'm really tired…I don't wanna talk about it. It's personal. Okay?" Brian said. He did seem tired. But as Emily watched him roll back to his bedroom, she realized that wasn't the only vibe she was getting from him. He had seemed genuinely embarrassed at her questioning of him and his mysterious absence. For now she would have to accept her mother's explanation of things. She shrugged off the strange emotions her brother seemed to emanate when she spoke to him. She needed all of her mind's focus on the competition she was leaving for in the morning. She walked back over to her bed which was situated in the front of the house. She had taken this one so she could let Brian take the second bedroom to accommodate his special needs. When Emily's head hit the pillow she began to think. She vowed not to let this whole thing with Brian pull her out of focus. She promised herself she would go full force at the competition in Los Angeles. Then, and only then, when she got home she would find out more about Brian and his little getaways. She suspected it was something simple, such as going on dates with Becca or studying at a friend's house or staying late at school. Soon her thoughts drifted into nothingness as she fell asleep. But no sooner, it seemed, had that happed than her alarm went off which meant it was time to leave to catch up with the rest of the team at 'The Rock' to ride down to the airport. She rushed into the bathroom, showered and dressed herself faster than she had ever done in her life. When she made it to the front of the apartment her mother was waiting with breakfast she could take with her and the gym bag she had packed days ago.

"Mom, where's Brian? Isn't he gonna come see me leave for the airport?"

"He's at school hon."

"Mom it's Sunday, there's no school."

"He had to put in some extra time on a project. Come on honey, you're gonna be late." Chloe said practically pushing her out the door. They made it to 'The Rock' with time to spare. She loaded her bag into the compartment under the bus and climbed into the bus, finding a seat with the rest of the 'Rock' national team members. While the bus pulled out, all the parents waved goodbye to their kids. Emily could see her mother jumping up and down behind all of the other parents, trying to make sure she was seen. Once they were out of view of the gym Emily sat back next to Payson and began to focus herself. Payson was no longer on the national team but she was coming as a representative of 'The Rock'.

"So are you as pumped as I am?" Payson asked, clapping Emily on the shoulder.

"I guess so."

"You guess so? You gotta have more attitude than that!"

"It's just, I have so much going on right now…"

"It'll be fine, whatever it is. I'm sure. Just visualize your name at the top of the scoreboard." Payson said acting sage. Emily sat back and rode in silence. She did in fact visualize herself winning. It made her believe more than ever that this is where she belonged.

***Please feel free to leave a ****review****. Tell me what you think is going on with Brian, but don't cheat by looking at the second chapter.**

***Thank you for reading, please read Chapter 2**

**Author's Notes**

_-The part about Brian's father not wanting to be around Chloe because of the kids, and ultimately leaving was derived from an episode where Emily was afraid Sasha was going to leave "Just like my dad and Brian's dad." That's why I have it so Brian had a different father. It was stated that way in the show._

_-All the parts were Emily practices at parks and playgrounds were derived from the show when she and her mother spoke of how she used to do that before they came to Bolder. _

_-The part where Chloe takes them to see "October Sky" was derived from an episode were Chloe decided to get them some nice things. Brian got a DVD of "October Sky" which was stated to be his favorite movie. _

_-And the whole thing with the overweight women where Chloe told her being overweight wasn't a disability was true. Obesity was not ruled a disability until the year 2001. _

_-The part where it explains that Emily had a bed in the front so Brian could have the second bedroom was mentioned in Season One of the show._


	2. A Bright Future

***Reviews are very much appreciated.**

**-Brian's Story-**

Chapter 2

The competition in Los Angeles had gone very well for Emily. She had won several of her events. She was now landing in Bolder. She was about to meet up with her mother and brother, just like the other girls where reuniting with their families. She had received a phone call the night before, from her mother and Brian, they told her something that had her head spinning, for the words could have meant anything and she wouldn't know until she saw them. Even though she achieved major successes at the competition, now the phone call was the only thing Emily could think about. The other girls began to take notice of her seemingly vacant demeanor.

"Hey, Em' what's going on?" Kaylie asked her, seeming concerned.

"Yeah, why do you seem so turned off right now? You did great!" Payson said, thumping her on the back.

"I don't know. I guess it's the phone call I got from my mom last night."

"What'd she say? Is she alright?" Kaylie asked, trying to be of help.

"It sounds like she's fine. But she said something about there being some big change, something that would surprise me. I guess I don't know how to take that. A big change with her could be either really good or really bad. I mean knowing her it might just mean one of her redneck boyfriends is staying in our apartment again."

"Rednecks and apartments…only you Emily." Lauren jeered. No one paid any attention to her as they made their way out of the terminal and found their way to baggage claim. As they waited for their luggage the girls continued to try to help Emily figure out what was going on.

"Did she tell you anything specific?" Payson asked her.

"No just that I would never see it coming."

"Well that doesn't really help at all. Is there anything that's been going on with your mom that might have to do with it?" Kaylie asked trying to explore the possibilities.

"Not that I can think of. Brian _has_ been acting weird lately. He's been gone a lot this whole year."

"Maybe it has something to do with him." Payson suggested.

"Who's Brian? Is he one of those redneck boyfriends you were talking about?" Lauren cut in.

"He's Emily's brother you idiot!" Kaylie snapped at her.

"But I have no idea what's going on with him." Emily said, thinking the conversation was going nowhere.

"Maybe your mom finally footed the bill for that operation she always wanted, you know so the upstairs size matches the downstairs size." Lauren said haughtily. But her remark fell on deaf ears. They had all silently agreed to ignore Lauren.

"You think maybe your brother got a girlfriend? He is kind of nerdy, so that might be a big surprise. But he's a nice guy so maybe not such a big surprise." Kaylie thought out loud.

"Oh please, who would go out with a gimpy trailer trash kid like him?" Lauren tried once more to attract attention and to her delight she had slightly succeeded.

"Shut up Lauren! My little sister Becca says she thinks he's really cute." Payson shot back at Lauren.

"Thanks Pay." Emily said, feigning disbelief, but at the same time hiding knowledge she was almost certain only she possessed.

"No, I'm serious, she does and all that _studying_ they do together…she isn't that bad in her classes. Plus I heard his name out of her every time we talked on the phone. It was just about how much he was helping her, but I've never heard anybody that excited about Geometry." Payson replied seriously.

"Hmm, maybe you're right Pay. Who knows?" Emily said shrugging it off for the moment.

"You think Sasha's gonna ride us all extra hard now cause of that sixth place you got Lauren?" Kaylie said trying to shame Lauren.

"I'm guessing your mom wants to ride him!" Lauren hit back.

"You're the biggest idiot I know Lauren." Kaylie spat back at her.

"Come on everybody knows about Marty and your mother." Lauren said confidently grinning in what she perceived to be victory.

"Everybody knows about you getting beat by not one but two of Marty's team, Kelly Parker and some other girl nobody even knows. Oooh, burns doesn't it?" Kaylie smirked.

"Whatever!" Lauren scowled, having nothing left to say. Just then Lauren saw her bags. It seemed she had brought nearly all of her possessions. But everyone knew this was only a small fraction of them. She lugged them off the belt and made her way to the waiting area were the parents were presumably anticipating them.

"Thank God! I thought she'd never leave." Kaylie moaned.

"I learned to tune the little princess out a long time ago. It's all just white noise to me now." Payson told them.

"It's pretty much the same for me too. I don't let her have the satisfaction of winning with me. Eventually she'll realize it's pointless." Emily added.

"Well good for you two. But she's still a thorn in my side. Oh well, I'm national champion and she's not, so there." Kaylie said with a smile. "Oh there's my stuff, see you in a few minutes." Kaylie collected her things and headed in the same direction Lauren had several minutes ago.

"I wish I could've joined you guys, but I'm still trying to re-invent my technique with Sasha. It really boils my blood sometimes not being able to do those things anymore." Payson said, still maintaining composure.

"Hey, you and everyone else who knows you thinks…knows you are gonna be back on top by twenty-twelve. Don't ever question that." Emily told her.

"Well this is a switch, now you're the one giving sage advice."

"Yup, and you know I'm right."

"Yeah, that's what everybody keeps telling me. But I'm not so sure."

"What's there not be unsure of?"

"I don't know, it's just that it's not happening as fast as I'd like it to."

"You've got over a year to get there. Trust me you'll be at the top of the podium wearing the gold all the way through London."

"Corny, especially for you Kmetko!" Payson said breaking into a laugh, which was contagious enough that Emily couldn't help but laugh along with her. It almost caused them to miss their baggage. As soon as they removed their bags, the two of them having the least bags of anyone else on the team, they proceeded to the front of the airport where their parents were waiting. They saw Kaylie chatting away with her parents. Lauren was complaining fervently about something with her father and Summer. Sasha was telling the parents how successfully their children had performed. Payson then reached were her family stood, they all simultaneously hugged her tight. Now it was Emily's turn to reunite with her family. She found her mother standing close to the chattering Cruz family, which included Kaylie's older brother.

"Mom, I missed you so much." Emily exclaimed pulling herself into a hug with her mother.

"I missed you too baby." Chloe replied warmly.

"So what's the big surprise you told me about?"

"You'll know it when you see it Emily."

"By the way, where's Brian? I thought you said you where gonna bring him?" Emily asked, looking around. But she saw no sign of her younger brother wheeling himself towards her.

"He's here, I wasn't lying or anything." Chloe told her.

"I don't see him any…" Emily abruptly stopped talking when she caught sight of her brother. She thought the sight of him kissing Becca Keeler was the most shocking thing she would ever see him do but she was now aware of how wrong she was.

"Hey there super girl." Brian intoned, a familiar and yet totally foreign smile on his face.

"B-b-b-Brian."

"Yup that's the name don't wear it out."

"B-b-Brian, you're—oh my God, oh my…you're you're…"

"I think this is a lot for your sister to take in. Maybe I should have said 'huge surprise' and not just 'big surprise'." Chloe put in.

"Oh my God…Brian…oh my God…you…you're walking. How in the world…?" Emily sputtered. Brian walked closer to her, with the use of crutches.

"I'm finally taller than you. How 'bout that?" Brian said, nothing but kindness in his voice as usual, trying to break Emily out of her stupor.

"Yeah…taller…walking…wow." Emily stammered again.

"So do I get a hug or did you only have one in you?" Brian joked propping himself up on the crutches, Emily wrapped her arms around his long midsection, still a little robotically.

"You're right, you are taller than me. What else is new? Not that anything can top this." Emily asked, now that she had regained the use of speech completely, although she knew the shock of seeing Brian walk would not wear off for quite some time.

"We'll get to that later. What we both wanna know is how'd you do in LA?" Chloe asked, obviously covering something else up.

"Well I did…great. I placed first in two events. But…Brian…you're walking…amazing…anyway, Brian is there anything else new with you?" Emily asked still astonished at his newfound upright mobility. But the intent of the question was not to get more details on his lack of a wheelchair, but to see if things had progressed any further with Becca, and an attempt to get Brian to admit it to her without having to tell him what she saw.

"Well uhh…" Brian muttered, but before he could answer, Becca walked up and kissed him lightly on the lips, which he reciprocated.

"See ya' tonight!" Becca exclaimed as she left with Payson, who shot Emily an 'I told ya' look and an ear to ear grin.

"So, you and Becca Keeler, huh?" Emily asked proudly.

"Yeah, isn't it great?" Brain replied, as they walked to the parking lot, he was still hobbling slightly on the crutches.

"Yeah it is. But you couldn't have told me about _this_ over the phone?" Emily asked, referring to the fact that Brain could now walk for the first time since he was a year and a half old.

"I didn't want you getting distracted." Brian put simply. Emily looked at her mother hoping for more of an answer.

"Don't look at me; he made me keep it quiet."

"Well his walking isn't the only miracle then." Emily remarked referring to Chloe staying quiet.

"You know we're really proud of you Emily, sounds like you did great in LA." Chloe said, trying to focus on Emily.

"Yeah, thanks mom. But, wow, this is what you've been hiding from me all year Brian? You've been learning how to walk."

"Well first I had to get surgery to fix my spine. Then I started the physical therapy. So…"

"Still… all this in a year? I always knew I had an amazing little brother. But…wow."

"To be honest this is the most I've walked…ever. So I'm gonna be really happy when we get to the car and I can sit down."

"Yeah this was really hard for him, but he had to see you as soon as you got back. I couldn't get him to wait."

"I don't blame him, I couldn't wait to see you either Bri." Emily said, smiling. "Brian…I know this is going to get annoying but I'm amazed at you. But why couldn't you tell me?"

"Well I went to the doctor and they told me I could get the surgery cause I had grown out of it enough now. I got to thinking and I figured it would be really cool if you didn't know until I could show you. So…that's why I didn't say anything."

"I guess that makes sense. It's a little weird but…yeah it's cool. Becca isn't just dating you cause you can walk now, right?"

"No, we were seeing each other before I started being able to get out of the wheelchair. I went to see her at some of her practices at 'The Rock', especially while you where away. Cause lately it's been a lot easier for me to get there. When you saw us together, the night before you left, I had gotten onto the couch by myself."

"Wait, you knew I saw you?"

"Yeah, I saw you jump into mom's room."

"Wow, okay. Good eyes."

"There's a little more news." Chloe said shortly.

"What else could possibly have changed?" Emily asked, not believing anything else could.

"I got a job at the 'Pizza Shack' last week… don't worry I won't let Razor mess with my head. But since I can almost walk now, I figured it was time for me to contribute."

"You've always contributed…" Chloe reassured him.

"You know what I mean…money-wise."

"I always thought you would be a computer engineer or a scientist."

"I will be but I need other work on my way up. Oh, one other thing, not that it needs to be brought up. But my walking means, I don't need help with certain…personal things anymore. That's gotta be a relief."

"We've always been there for you Brian…but yes, it is a relief." Chloe informed him, with a quick agreement from Emily.

"You don't think we should tell her about the other big surprise?" Brian asked their mother.

"No, I think she'll recognize this one all on her own."

"Come on guys, what's the surprise?" Emily demanded as they stopped walking.

"We're at it!" Chloe exclaimed.

"What's that supposed to mean 'we're at it'?" Emily asked, utterly confused.

"Look, it's your new car!" Chloe burst in excitement, handing Emily the keys.

-The End-

***Please feel free to leave reviews!**

Authors Notes:

_-When Brian says "Hey there super girl." That is a reference to the series premier when we first saw Brian and that's what he said (or something similar with the phrase 'Super Girl' in it) after Emily threw a sock at him._

_-The reason Emily's job at the 'Pizza Shack' is secure is because they said the 'Pizza Shack' is "always hiring". _


End file.
